A Summer of Change
by citysinger13
Summary: This summer was supposed to be about him, his friends, and iCarly. But when a girl he had been convinced was only a practical joke reappeared...the summer was suddenly different. Rated T for language and eating disorders. Felanie
1. A Shocking Morning

**Hello, and I'm glad you were intrigued enough to click on this story! I hope you enjoy it. **

**Special note before we begin…this story does not take some recent events of iCarly into account…specifically iOMG. I loved it, but it doesn't work for this story. So, it's like that episode never happened at all. Hope that doesn't disappoint anyone!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own iCarly or any of its characters.**

_The blank hallway stared him down. He stood at the end of it, out of breath, although he couldn't remember any reason for that. Perhaps he had run here…? It didn't matter. There was something—no, someone he needed to get to. And fast. He had something to tell them…something he just couldn't quite remember._

_Almost as if he had no control over them, his feet started moving, running, pounding against the white tile floors, making the plain white walls flash by him in a colorless haze. He knew where she was; he just had to get to her._

_But who was he running to? Was it Carly? Was she in trouble? He couldn't think straight—all of his energy was focused on running down this damn hallway, which seemed to be growing longer, or at least not growing any shorter._

_Suddenly, there was a door along the right side of the hallway. There! That was where he wanted to go! His sneakers squeaked to a halt on the floors as he turned to face this door. He stared it down for a moment. And then, again without him having any control, his hand reached for the polished doorknob and turned it. _

_The room was just as white as the hallway, but there was more light, making everything very bright. He had to squint as he looked around, knowing that the girl he was looking for was in this room. She needed him…or he needed her. He still wasn't quite sure. He took a step into the room._

_There. There she was. She was dressed in a flowing white dress that was hardly noticeable against the white walls and floors…walls and floors that seemed to blend into each other so that it appeared to be just empty white space now._

_It wasn't Carly._

_The girl's hair was a beautiful blonde color, curly, and falling luxuriously down her back. She was facing the other way, but seemed to sense his presence and turned to face him. He couldn't help but gasp, though no sound escaped his lips._

_It was Sam._

_But…it wasn't Sam at the same time. This couldn't be Sam. There were a few things wrong with this picture. Sam didn't wear any sort of dress, let alone a long, wispy one that this girl was wearing. Sam's hair wasn't this shiny or smooth. Sam didn't have the faint smell of lilacs wafting from her. Sam didn't smile at him like this girl was…_

_He reached out to touch the girl, who did the same. At the instant their fingers touched, the door behind him slammed shut with a bang that echoed through his mind. He jumped slightly, but the mystery girl just smiled wider, her white teeth seeming to glitter at him. His mouth opened to ask her who she was, why she looked like Sam…but she put a finger to her lips, telling him to not speak._

_Obeying her seemed like a reasonable thing, so he didn't ask. _

_His eyes widened as she reached up to his face, her small, soft hands resting on either of his cheeks. She tilted her head one way, letting her hair fall over one shoulder. Then, she slowly pulled his face closer to hers. He closed his eyes, waiting, dying to kiss this mysterious, alluring, stunning girl._

Freddie gasped as he sat up in bed, the incessant beeping of his alarm clock being what woke him. He fumbled for the clock on his nightstand, striking the button with a little bit more force than was necessary. Rubbing his eyes irritably, he took a deep breath to clear his brain. A dream. It had been a dream.

He sighed, slightly disappointed that the perfect girl had been nothing but a figment of his imagination. Even now, the dream was fading away from his memory. Something was sticking with him though. However…he might just pretend that the girl had had Sam's face. It hadn't seemed like Sam at all.

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he noticed his sheets and comforter were in a pile on the floor. He replaced them on his bed before going out into the kitchen.

"Mom?" he called, scratching the back of his head. "Mom?" He noticed a note stuck to the refrigerator, and took a closer look at it.

_Freddiekins—_

_Got called in to work early. Will see you tonight!_

_Xoxoxoxoxo!_

_Mommy _

Freddie rolled his eyes at the cutesy nickname and the smiley face drawn down at the bottom of the page. Still, this was a huge improvement over past years. His mom had recently finished nursing school and was working in a pediatrician's office. This boded very well for Freddie, since she now had more people to smother with unconditional caring. These were people who actually needed her relentless use of anti-bacterial items.

With a smile and yawn, he pulled open the fridge and, after a moment of staring into its contents, closed it again. He instead went back to his room and quickly through on some clothes, a penny tee with the phrase "Cheesecake Griddle" on it, and a pair of tan cargo shorts. After slipping on a pair of shoes and grabbing his keys, he left the apartment, going to Carly and Spencer's across the hall.

He knocked on the door, not waiting for it to be answered before he walked in. "Hey, hey, hey," he called as he shut the door behind him.

"Oh look, it's Freddie," Spencer mumbled from his spot on the couch. "Why wouldn't he show up at eight in the morning, unannounced?" Freddie knew that Spencer was just kidding…possibly.

"Spencer," Carly scolded, eating a bowl of cereal at the kitchen table. "You need to be more of a morning person." Spencer grumbled noncommittally and fell over sideways, burying his face into the cushions of the couch.

Freddie laughed, walking over to the kitchen to join Carly. "What's shakin, bacon?" he asked, pulling a bowl from the cabinet.

"Well, no bacon, unfortunately," Carly smiled at him. "Count Chocula?"

"Please," Freddie responded, grabbing the box from the table and pouring a fair amount into his bowl, then grabbing the milk from the fridge. "So…first day of summer. What are we doing today?" he inquired, pouring the milk over his cereal and grabbing a spoon before joining Carly at the table.

"I didn't have plans," Carly shrugged. "Maybe you, Sam, and I can go to the pool or something."

With a nod, Freddie gestured with his spoon. "Remember, later we have to finish picking videos for the next iCarly segment. We have it down to that tuba playing cat and the exploding cake."

"I really like the cat," Carly confessed. "It's sooo cute." She was going to say more, but the door to the apartment banged open and closed once more. Spencer fell off the couch with a shout of surprise. Sam stormed from the living room to the kitchen, growling under her breath.

Carly and Freddie watched, shocked, as she grabbed a root beer from the fridge and joined them at the table. She looked between the two of them for a moment. "_What_?" she finally asked, obviously pissed about something.

"Sam, it's like eight in the morning," Carly slowly explained, highly confused. "You're _never _up this early—even during the school year!"

"I know _I'm_ not, but _she _is!" Sam exclaimed. "And she wouldn't quit pestering me! I don't know how to escape!"

"Escape from who?" Freddie asked, confused. Carly looked like she understood.

"So, what, are you just going to live here?" Carly questioned. "She's not going to go away!"

"Who's not going away?" Freddie demanded, feeling a little invisible.

"Well, ignoring her isn't working," Sam complained. "She won't leave me alone—she says we need to bond more!"

"Okay, now I know you're not talking about your mom…" Freddie mumbled, knowing that no one was listening.

There was a knock at the door. Sam looked over at it, a look of dread overcoming her face. "Oh crap…" she muttered. "She found me."

"She likes you, Sam," Carly told her, rolling her eyes. "She just wants to spend time with you." Carly got up and started over to the door.

"Hey!" Sam exclaimed. She leapt up from the table and grabbed Carly's arm. "Don't let her in!"

"Why not?" Carly asked, exasperated. "_I _like her!"

"Yeah, and I don't understand why!"

"Okay, you know what? You really need to learn to tolerate her."

Freddie rolled his eyes at their bickering and dropped his spoon into the now empty cereal bowl. He got up from the table and walked, unnoticed by the arguing girls, to the door. He opened it, shaking his head. "Hey, what's going on…" he started to ask the person at the door, but then his voice caught in his throat.

Melanie smiled at him. "Freddie!" she exclaimed, pulling him into a hug. Freddie was too shocked; he was frozen.

He heard the absence of argument from behind him. "Oh yeah," Carly realized. "He still doesn't know she exists, does he?"


	2. Too Much To Handle

**Thanks for being so intrigued with this story that you clicked for the next chapter!**

**Hey guys, sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. School is starting soon and I've been pretty absorbed in real life. Shocking, right? Well, I don't know when the next chapter will be done, but I've got it pretty well outlined…in my brain. So, let's shoot for next week sometime, yes? Awesome! Enjoy chapter two!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own iCarly or any of its characters.**

Freddie could barely feel anything. He knew his face was frozen with his mouth hanging open like a fish, but he couldn't bring himself to shut it. He was too shocked by what had just happened.

Melanie seemed to sense that something was wrong when she noticed that Freddie wasn't hugging her back, and rather just standing there while she had her arms around him. She pulled away and looked confused. "Um…Freddie?" she questioned. "Are you…are you alright?" When Freddie still didn't respond, she looked over to Carly and Sam. "Did I do something?"

"He might be a little bit…flabbergasted?" Carly guessed. "It's kind of a long story…"

Sam looked very annoyed with the whole situation. "C'mon Freddork, snap out of it." She reached out and grabbed Freddie's arm in a very hard pinch.

Freddie sprang back to the world of the living. "Ow!" he exclaimed, as Sam pulled him away from Melanie. "Ow, ow, ow!" He finally escaped Sam's grip and grabbed his arm where her nails had left a bright red mark. He through a look of indignation towards Sam. "OW!" he complained at her.

"Ah, grow up, you big baby," Sam muttered, shoving her hands in her pockets with a smirk. "What do you want, Melanie?" she asked the girl still standing in the doorway, sounding more irritated than usual.

"You ran out of the house so fast, I was worried something was wrong," Melanie explained, still glancing towards Freddie with her slightly confused look.

"Yeah, well-," Sam began, but was cut off by a sudden exclamation from Freddie.

"You're _real_?" he shouted, gripping his hair in both hands. The three girls looked back at him. Carly seemed sympathetic.

With slight hesitation, Melanie nodded her head. "Yeah…wait…you really still thought I was Sam?" Melanie looked at Sam accusingly. "You told me that you told him I was real!"

"I did," Sam said with a shrug. "Is it my fault he still didn't believe us?"

Carly shrugged as well. "We just thought it might be best to…you know, leave him clueless. Save him the confusion."

"And save _us _the headache," Sam grumbled under her breath as she walked back to the kitchen. Melanie rolled her eyes and walked into the apartment, shutting the front door.

Freddie was slowly getting a grip on himself. "Okay…" he said slowly. "Okay…so there's…two…of you?"

"No, there's not!" Sam yelled at him from the kitchen. "There's _one _of me, and _one _of _it_!"

Melanie looked highly insulted. "Excuse me? Sam, did you just call me _it_?"

"Yeah, I did, Mels. What are you gonna do about it?" Sam challenged, looking smug as she drank her root beer. Melanie sighed and smiled slightly at her sister.

"That's okay," she proclaimed. "I know that somewhere, deep down, you love me, Sam, and you can't get rid of that part."

"I can keep trying, though," Sam muttered, sitting down at the table and taking a handful of grapes from the bowl on the table.

Freddie took a deep breath and shook his head, feeling a little bit woozy. "I think I need to sit down," he said quietly, taking a place on the couch and staring straight ahead. Behind him, Carly and Melanie exchanged a slightly concerned look.

"I think he's gone into shock," he heard Carly explaining.

"Should we leave him like that…?" Melanie asked uncertainly.

"He should be fine," Carly told her, basically shrugging off the whole situation. Freddie heard her walk back to the kitchen and join Sam at the table, where a hushed conversation started taking place.

Melanie, however, came and sat next to Freddie. "Um…Freddie?" she called softly, and meekly. She reached out a small hand to touch his shoulder, and Freddie slightly recoiled, but was seemingly brought back to the human world. He glanced at her and attempted a smile.

"Yeah!" he responded, too enthusiastically to appear genuine. Melanie raised an eyebrow at him and he felt the fake smile slide off his face.

"Are you alright?" she asked him, looking concerned. "You seem…kind of freaked out."

"That might be because I'm a little freaked out," Freddie confirmed, his voice cracking a bit.

Melanie couldn't help but giggle the tiniest bit. "Well," she began, stopping her laughter. "Why? I mean, you had to think there was a _slight _possibility that I was real. Sam said that you were convinced. Although, now," she added, throwing a look over at Sam, who was still talking with Carly in the kitchen. "I guess I know that was a lie."

It was Freddie's turn to laugh. "Yeah, that's a shock," he mumbled, leaning back into the couch and letting his head rest on the back.

There was a short pause where neither said anything to each other. "Well…I hope there's no more confusion," Melanie said awkwardly, getting up. "Sorry, I guess." Freddie looked up as she smiled at him and walked over to join her sister and Carly in the kitchen. While she joined in on their conversation, however, things quickly got a bit…enflamed.

"Come _on_!" Sam groaned, slamming her empty root beer bottle down and getting up from the table. "See, this is exactly what I'm trying to tell you, Carly! She has to be in on _everything _I do!"

Carly sighed and got up too. "Sam, try to cool it! You usually deal with this way better than you are right now. Doesn't Melanie come to visit every summer?"

"Yeah, but she's usually not this freaking annoying!" Sam exclaimed.

Melanie was standing near Sam, leaning against the counter with her arms folded across her chest, looking as though this was something she's used to. Freddie examined both girls, trying to find a difference between them.

All he could see, however, were the personal things about them. Like the fact that Sam's hair was loose around her shoulders, while Melanie's was pulled up in a high ponytail. And how Melanie was wearing a white, flowery skirt and pink top with sandals on her feet, as opposed to Sam's dark jean shorts and black tank top paired with black converse. Add in the differences in voice and behavior and it was completely obvious that these two girls were completely different.

Then _why hadn't he realized that before_?

Freddie was so focused on wondering how he had ever believed that Melanie could have been Sam, that he barely heard Carly saying his name.

"Freddie!" she shouted, very close to his ear, and he snapped back to attention. Carly was standing directly next to him, an amused smile on her face. "Daydream much?"

"Sorry," he apologized. "You guys did kind of drop a lot on me this morning. Give me a break."

"Ah, grow up, Benson," Sam shouted at him from the kitchen, still looking very cheesed off about the morning's proceedings.

Carly laughed. "Anyway, so do you guys want to go over our iCarly stuff now?" Freddie shrugged and nodded, getting up from the couch. "Okay, cool." Carly glanced over at Sam. "Sam? Studio?"

"Fine," Sam grumbled, grabbing an entire bunch of grapes from the bowl and taking them with her as she walked to the stairs.

"Can I join you?" Melanie asked, almost timidly. Freddie winced as he saw Sam's eyes go wide. She whirled around.

"_No_, you may _not_!" Sam hissed. "God, Melanie, these are _my _friends, not yours! Yours are at that snooty boarding school!"

"I'm her friend," Carly objected. "And yes, Melanie, you can join us."

"But…" Sam began to argue. "Carls…"

"She's joining us," Carly said, with finality etched in her voice. "You've got to be nicer to each other. Or, actually, you've got to be nicer to her."

Sam only gave a wordless groan and stomped up the stairs, Carly close behind her. Freddie and Melanie reached the stairs at the same time as Melanie. They both stopped and smiled slightly at each other. She gestured. "You first."

"Oh no," Freddie refused, shaking his head and gesturing as well. "Um, ladies first."

Melanie grinned vaguely. "Well, thanks," she replied, going in front of him up the stairs. "We're going to be really awkward with each other, aren't we?" she asked without even turning to face him.

"Yeah, probably," Freddie agreed, following her up to the iCarly studio.


	3. Ballet Class

**I'm back! **

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own iCarly or any of its characters.**

_The same plain hall, the same white room, the same girl in the white dress, that same alluring smile. Freddie found himself once again reaching out to the beautiful vision before him, and she did the same. In the back of his mind, he recognized the dream, and that it would end very soon._

_Their fingers touched and, yes, there was the door shutting with a bang. The girl reached for him…their lips were just about to touch…_

Freddie's eyes snapped open. He groaned and scratched his head as he sat up, running his fingers through his messy brown hair. With a glance at his bedside clock, he realized it was nine-thirty and he was supposed to meet Carly and Sam at the Groovy Smoothie in half an hour. Sighing deeply, he pulled himself out of his bed and stumbled toward his bathroom to take a quick shower to shake off the uneasy feeling this dream had left him with. He already couldn't quite remember what it had been about, but he knew it made him feel a little strange.

After his shower, Freddie dressed quickly and left Bushwell Plaza. Realizing that he was very soon to be late, he started to jog down the street towards the Groovy Smoothie. He pulled out his phone to shoot a text to Carly and didn't watch where he was walking, causing him to crash into someone else on the sidewalk. He stumbled but caught himself as the unfortunate person he had hit fell to the ground.

"Oh my God, geez," Freddie exclaimed apologetically, automatically holding his hand out to help the girl up. "Wow, I'm really sorry, I wasn't…" Freddie trailed off as he looked at who was taking his hand and pulling herself up. "Sam?"

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "No, Melanie," she corrected him. With a mischievous grin, she added, "I'm smiling too much to be Sam."

Freddie couldn't help but laugh. "What are you doing around here this morning, though?" he asked, slightly forgetting that he was late to meet his friends. He quickly glanced at Melanie's attire—black Nike shorts and a pink tank top, with her hair up in a ponytail.

"Just going for a jog," Melanie explained. "Sam and I are supposed to go somewhere today, but she said she had plans with you and Carly for this morning, so now I just get to hang out by myself until this afternoon."

"So to pass the time, you're _jogging_?" Freddie asked, impressed. "It's _hot _out!"

Melanie shrugged with a smile. "It's not that bad. I jog almost every day. Gotta keep in shape over summer."

With a laugh, Freddie nodded. "Sure, I guess." His phone vibrated in his hand and he looked down to see a text from Carly, wondering where he was. "Hey, don't you want to come hang out with us?" Freddie asked, not thinking. "We're going to the Groovy Smoothie."

"Thanks, but no," Melanie declined politely. "Sam's already…_talked _to me about hanging around her and her friends all the time." She rolled her eyes again and just shrugged. "I figured I'll humor her for now and hang out with Carly and you some other time." Melanie pulled out her pearpod and started to put in her earbuds. "I'll see you later?"

"Yeah…sure," Freddie replied with a smile. Melanie returned it with one of her own and, with a wave, jogged off. Freddie waved as well and then walked down to the Groovy Smoothie.

Inside, at their usual table, were Sam and Carly. Sam, in the seat facing the door, raised her eyebrows as Freddie walked in. "You're late, Frednubs," she muttered, taking a sip from her smoothie cup. "If I can get up in the morning, so can you."

Freddie laughed at Sam's attitude and took a seat next to Carly. She had already ordered his favorite smoothie, and passed it to him. He took a sip and enjoyed the cool taste of watermelon, welcoming the ice cold drink and air conditioning after standing outside in the June heat. "I'm sorry. I was actually just talking to Melanie," he mentioned, glancing at Sam out of the corner of his eye. "You're making her wait for you while you hang out with your friends?"

Carly shot Sam a look. "What? Sam!"

"Hey, I didn't tell her she had to come out here, she _wanted _to go jogging and decided she might as well do it around here." Sam shrugged defensively. "At least I'm hanging out with her. We're going…somewhere this afternoon." There was a bitter, angry look on Sam's face as she said this part.

"Doesn't Melanie have class this afternoon?" Carly asked, looking confused. Sam nodded and Carly's eyes slowly lit up. "Wait…no way…you're not!"

"No, I'm _not_, are you crazy?" Sam scoffed. "Besides, I couldn't. No, I'm just going to watch. Something my mom said about being supportive of my sister. Damn her and her new 'let's be a happy family' attitude."

While Carly laughed, Freddie just felt lost. "What class does she have?"

"Ballet," Sam replied, rolling her eyes. "As if I would ever do ballet, Carly, are you out of your mind?"

"You did it once! I saw the pictures," Carly retorted smugly.

"Yeah, when I was _three_. It doesn't count, everyone does ballet when there three."

"But-," Carly started to say, but stopped with a look from Sam.

"Melanie does ballet?" Freddie asked.

Carly gave a incredulous chuckle. "She's like a ballet _champion_. That's why she goes to that boarding school—it's a dance academy."

"No way," Freddie replied, looking from Carly to Sam. "Sam, why didn't you mention that?"

"Um, it never came up," Sam grumbled. "I don't care about Melanie and her stupid dance school, so let's just talk about something else, all right?"

Carly stopped her giggling and graciously changed the subject. Soon, the sour look had left Sam's face and the three friends were talking and laughing about other things. Freddie felt every trace of Melanie Puckett leave his mind.

_Later_

"Concentrate on your spot, Rebecca," Kirstin instructed, walking through the room of dancers, all dressed in matching black leotards and pink tights. She watched the girl named Rebecca do the turn again. "Better," Kirstin said, and moved on.

Melanie was in the front. She always liked to be in the front of the class, whether it was a regular school class or a ballet class. It was easier for you to concentrate. She prepped her pirouette and spun gracefully, spotting herself in the mirror. She kept her neck long, her shoulders down, and her feet turned out. "Good, Melanie," Kirstin said with a smile. "Be sure to really concentrate on your balance—you start to lean after three."

After a few more minutes of pirouettes, Kirstin turned off the music and started teaching the across-the-floor combination. Melanie quickly turned to glance out the window that looked into the hall. There, Sam was still there. Melanie turned her head so Sam wouldn't see the small smile on her face. Of course she was there. If there was one thing she could always count on, it was Sam staying through a whole dance class.

_She doesn't want to admit that she misses it_, Melanie though to herself. _I wish she would_. With that thought, Melanie brought her attention back to the class.

After the _reverence_, Kirstin dismissed the class. While the other girls gathered up their things and went to the dressing rooms, Melanie approached the instructor, who greeted her with a hug and a smile. "It's good to see you again, Melanie," Kirstin said happily. "How's the academy?"

"It's fantastic, I'm still always grateful that you told me about those auditions all those years ago," Melanie confessed. "If you hadn't…well I'd obviously still be great, because I'd be taking classes from you, but…"

"But there's nothing like being taught by former dance company members, right," Kirstin finished with a laugh. "Well of course you're doing just fantastic. I'm sure you'll be great this next year too." Melanie gave a nervous smile, anxious just from the thought of her last year at school. _It's still summer, Melanie,_ she told herself. _You don't have to worry just yet._

Kirstin looked at something over Melanie's shoulder. "Well, I'll be, if it isn't Miss Samantha Puckett." Melanie looked too, and saw Sam had come into the room. She had a half sneer, half smile on her face. "It's been a while since I've seen you, little miss."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Sam mumbled. "Mels, we gotta go, okay? I'm going to stay at Carly's tonight." Melanie nodded and gave a nod to her ballet instructor before leaving the room after Sam.

They walked down the hall in silence for a moment. Of course, Melanie was the one to break it. "You know, I'm sure that you can sign up for a class still, for this summer. It doesn't have to be ballet, you can take tap, or hip hop, or—."

"Mels!" Sam exclaimed, turning towards her twin. "I don't want to take a dance class! You only think I do because you can't imagine anyone else living some other way. It was something I did for fun when I was a kid, okay? It was a pageant talent. That's all." Sam shook her head. "Just because you can't live without dance doesn't mean we all can't."

"Fine," Melanie said quietly, readjusting her dance bag on her shoulders and walking on again. "I just thought I'd mention it."

They walked in silence again.

**I took a lot of liberties with Melanie's character, since there's only very little information on her. I hope you enjoyed it!**


	4. Lost Keys

**Thank you for all the lovely comments and favorites and alerts and everything. They make me feel warm and fuzzy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own iCarly or any of its characters.**

Freddie cursed under his breath as he couldn't find the keys to his apartment in the pocket of his shorts. Checking and rechecking, he mentally retraced his steps of the day. He knew he had picked them up that morning on his way out—he had been very sure of it, because he was always _very _careful to not forget them. If he did, the fragile place he had reached with his mother—a place where he was somewhat grown up—would be completely shattered.

Abandoning the search of his pockets, Freddie started walking down the hallway towards the elevators again, sweeping his eyes back and forth across the floor. He didn't register the _ding _of the elevator as it arrived, so he was very surprised whenever he ran right into two people—two people who were too busy arguing with each other to have noticed him walking, half hunched over, down the hall.

"I just want to—oof!" Freddie looked up as the girl he had bumped into fell back a few steps. He glanced back and forth between the two girls and felt his head spin slightly at the sight. "Freddie!" Melanie exclaimed, not seeming at all displeased that Freddie had just run into her.

"Melanie? God, why do I keep hitting you today?" Freddie sighed, exasperated. "Sorry."

"What are you doing, Fredward?" Sam snapped, folding her arms and staring him down.

"Is it a crime to walk down the hallway now, Sam?" Freddie shot back. When Sam's icy glare only got worse, he conceded. "I was looking for my keys. I dropped them somewhere…I _hope _they're in the building somewhere."

Melanie's eyes were wide. "You lost your keys? Oh no! Do you want help to look for them?"

"Uh…" Freddie glanced from Melanie to Sam and back again. "Sure. I mean, if you want to."

Sam looked at Melanie, confused and angry looking. "Weren't you just saying that you wanted to say hi to Carly before you went home?"

"Say hi to her for me," Melanie suggested with a smile. "Freddie needs help." Sam grumbled some response and stalked off down the hallway towards the Shay's apartment. Melanie turned to Freddie and offered up one of her dazzling smiles.

"You really don't have to—." Freddie tried to say, but Melanie interrupted him.

"I didn't see them in the lobby, but I don't think I'd have really noticed them if I had. Do you want to look down there first?" Melanie smiled and walked off down the hall, leaving Freddie no choice but to follow after her, with a smile and a shake of his head.

They didn't find the keys in the lobby. Their search took them outside, where it was still warm, though it was already six in the evening. The keys weren't anywhere on the sidewalk, although anyone could have picked them up and taken them. This thought did nothing for Freddie's peace of mind.

Soon, they were at the Groovy Smoothie. One glance at the table showed Freddie that the keys weren't there. He walked up to the counter where T-Bo was working. 

"Hey, T-Bo," Freddie greeted him. "Did you find-."

"Your keys, little Freddie boy?" T-Bo finished with a grin. "Well, hmm, gee, I really don't know. Did I or did I not? Well, Freddie's mom would be just a little bit upset if he lost his keys and locked himself out of the apartment, wouldn't she?" T-Bo laughed at the thought. He had just recently moved out of the apartment, having finally found a new place of his own, and was always making it clear he was glad not to deal with Mrs. Benson anymore.

"Come on, T-Bo," Freddie groaned, slightly annoyed, but mainly relieved. T-Bo reached under the counter and tossed Freddie's keys to him. "Thanks, Teebs," Freddie sighed with a smile.

"Wanna buy some pizza?" T-Bo asked, pulling out a stick with individual slices of pizza stuck on it. "Special two for one deal?"

Freddie shrugged. "I'm good. Melanie?" He looked at the blonde girl over his shoulder. "Pizza?"

Melanie laughed apprehensively. "No thanks, I'm good!" She smiled anxiously and waved T-Bo away. "I don't eat pizza," she confessed to Freddie when he joined her back over by the door. "I haven't in six years, since I started at the academy."

"Really?" Freddie raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "You haven't eaten pizza in _six years_?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "Nope. I don't eat pizza, processed meats, fast food, or any kind of junk food."

Freddie stared at her in amazement. "You're Sam's twin," he finally managed to say. "And you don't eat any of that stuff?" 

Melanie leaned in towards him a little, a sneaky smile on her face. "I think Sam eats enough of it for the both of us. It's pity eating." The pair of them laughed and walked out of the smoothie shop.

"You two are so _different_," Freddie said in astonishment. "I mean…wow."

"I guess so," Melanie replied, glancing down at the ground and then back up at Freddie. "I should probably go home. My mom…well she won't be _worried_, but…"

"I'll walk with you." The words came out of Freddie's mouth so fast he hadn't even been aware he was going to say them.

Melanie gave him a slightly hesitant smile. "That's fine…I mean, it's not even dark and it's not like it's far at all…"

"I-I want to walk with you," Freddie stuttered. "That is…is that okay with you?"

"Sure, I don't mind if you don't mind," Melanie responded. She adjusted the strap of her dance duffel that she was carrying.

"Here, I'll get that," Freddie told her, again without even thinking. He took the bag from her shoulder and slung it over his own, silencing her meek protests quickly.

Freddie knew the way to the Puckett's house by heart, and they were there in almost no time. All the way, though, Melanie regaled him with tales of childhood with Sam. As they reached the front walk, he went up to the door with her. As he handed her the bag back, he suddenly became very aware of his arms.

_Don't fold your arms like that, you ninny. You look like you don't care…well don't put them behind your back either, what are you, eight? Oh God, she's still talking. I have no freaking clue what she just said…I should nod. Nodding's good. Listen, Freddie!_

"Well, anyway," Melanie was saying by the time he came back to reality. "I'll see you sometime?"

"I…" Freddie hesitated. "Yeah, absolutely." Melanie flashed him her winning smile and then bit her lip just slightly.

"Does Sam really not talk about me at all?" she asked, glancing at the ground and back up.

Freddie opened his mouth a few times to answer but found nothing to say. "I-I mean…she talks about you…when you're here…" He trailed off, feeling that this was an unsatisfactory answer. "Why?"

Melanie shrugged. "I mean, you really didn't know I existed. I mean…you _really thought _that I was just a prank." She laughed a little bit. "I guess that I didn't make that big of an impression."

"No!" Freddie was quick to deny. "I mean…I guess I had some inkling that you were real. It was just…really confusing. You do not understand," he began with a laugh, "how many times they had pranked me already in just that _week_ that you came to visit. I was _so_ sure it was something else that was going to end up on iCarly." He hesitated and then added, "I'm glad that you are real, though."

With a laugh, Melanie's smile came back. "Thanks. I am too." She gave Freddie a quick hug goodbye. "I'll text you tomorrow, maybe. Bye!" And with a little wave, she went into her house and closed the door, leaving Freddie on the front porch.

As he was walking down the sidewalk away from the Puckett house, he realized that there was a big grin on his face. And try as he might, he couldn't get it to go away. And all he could think about was how funny and how sweet and how nice Melanie is. And how he couldn't wait to talk to her again.


	5. Summer Day

**Yeah, I'm a bad person…here's the next chapter that you've been waiting a ridiculously long time for.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own iCarly or any of its characters.**

"…and then the idiot farm girl can be all like 'you're stupid,' and the cowboy will say…Freddie? Freddie?" Carly waved a hand in front of her friend's eyes as he stared off into space. He snapped back to reality with a start.

"What?" he asked, confused. "Sorry…did you say something to me? I wasn't listening."

"What's wrong with you?" Carly questioned, sounding more amused than annoyed. "You looked like your mind was on vacation there."

Freddie chuckled. "Yeah, I guess it was. Sorry. I'll pay attention. What were you saying?" Carly went back into her description of the skit and, though Freddie was trying to pay attention, he found it somehow very difficult. It was strange—he usually hung on Carly's every word, but lately…he hadn't found himself as attracted to her. Well, obviously she was still really pretty and everything, but…maybe he was…getting over her?

_It's probably about time,_ he thought to himself as he nodded at something Sam was saying, so as not to appear that he wasn't listening. _I've been pining after her since, like, sixth grade. It's good to get over that._ A buzz in his pocket interrupted his thoughts and he pulled out his cell phone.

FROM: Melanie P.

TO: Freddie B.

Hey, do u want 2 mayb…hang out or somethin today? I no ur doin iCarly stuff rite now, but mayb later?

Freddie felt his breath catch in his throat a bit and he furiously and excitedly typed out his reply.

FROM: Freddie B.

TO: Melanie P.

Hey! Sure! I'd love to. I should b done here real soon, so we can hang out then, mayb? Watcha wanna do?

A few moments later, her reply came.

FROM: Melanie P.

TO: Freddie B.

I dunno, we can go 2 the park down the street from my house, or if u want we could go swimming or somethin.

They kept texting, Freddie not realizing the stupid grin that was adorned on his face. Sam and Carly stopped talking and exchanged a look. Sam then looked back over at Freddie and demanded, in a very unamused tone, "Frednubs, you tell us right now who in the hell you are texting that has you so freaking smiley, because frankly you are making me want to puke up blood right now."

Freddie looked up, startled. "What? Oh, geez, sorry, I'm doing it again, I'm not paying attention." He hit send on his last message and set his phone in his lap. "Sorry, what's going on?"

"Seriously, who are you texting?" Carly asked curiously. She reached over and, before Freddie could stop her, grabbed his pearphone and looked at his texts. Sam leaned over her shoulder and both of their eyes got wide as they saw Melanie's name.

"_Melanie_?" Sam exclaimed. "_My sister_, Melanie?" She grabbed the phone from a protesting Carly and started scrolling through the messages. "What are you talking about with _her_?"

"Nothing!" Freddie denied, feeling a blush coming on his cheeks. "We were just talking about hanging out after the meeting!"

"Oh my God!" Carly squealed. "You like her!" She giggled almost hysterically at her new discovery.

Freddie, shocked, shook his head very quickly. "No! No I don't!" His voice cracked. He took a breath and tried to force himself to stop blushing. "We're just friends!"

"What, is she not good enough for the Fredward?" Sam suddenly accused, looking up from the phone.

"That's not it at all!" Freddie exclaimed. He grabbed for his phone and, after a short grapple with Sam, had it back in his pocket. "Look, is this meeting still going on or are you guys just going to accuse me of liking Melanie? Because Melanie and I just met a few days ago."

"You met _months _ago—you just didn't believe it," Carly reminded him cheerfully. "Aww, you two would be such a cute couple!"

"Gross," Sam muttered, drawing her knees up to her chest and shuddering. "Carly, could you _not _put the image of Freddie and my sister into my head? It's making me want to _vomit_!" Carly just giggled some more and continued fawning over Freddie's "cute little crush" on Melanie.

"Okay, I'm going then," Freddie declared, standing up from the bean bag he had been seated on and, ignoring the giggly protests from Carly and the snide comments from Sam, walked out of the studio in slight annoyance.

_Later_

Chasing after the sound of Melanie's high-pitched laughter, Freddie fired off his small water pistol, sending a freezing stream of water directly into the blonde's pretty curls. She screamed in protest and amusement and turned around with her own pistol to retaliate. Freddie charged through the ice-cold water and lifted the petite Melanie off the ground and threw her halfway over his shoulder, spinning her around as she screamed and giggled. Eventually, he got so dizzy that they both fell to the ground, laughing.

Laying there in the green grass at the park, staring up at a clear blue sky with the occasional bright kite swooping across it. That was how he always pictured summer. Strange he had never pictured it with this girl. In his mind, this sort of scenario always had Carly as the leading lady. But here was Melanie and she was so much fun. He smiled at her, breathing hard to catch his breath while still slightly laughing. She was laughing and breathing hard too, and moved so she was lying next to him, both of them staring up at the sky.

"When Sam and I were younger, we used to come here all the time," she told him. "We used to actually sort of be friends. Not that we aren't now, but…well, we really aren't I guess."

Freddie turned his head to look at her. "Why is that?" he asked. "Not that it's my business, but…I mean, you guys are twins. Aren't twins supposed to be, like….super close?"

Melanie laughed. "Well that's what I'm saying. We used to be. We were always different, yeah, but we were those twins that always knew what the other was thinking and could tell when something was wrong before anyone else could. We had a secret language when we were _really _little."

"So when did you stop being so close?"

With a frown, Melanie sighed. "I think it was when I started really getting into ballet. Sam and I always had done _everything _together. We did take dance together for the longest time, because we were doing pageants and things, but eventually she lost interest and I gained interest. We sort of grew apart because she felt like I didn't love her as much as I loved ballet."

"Well that's dumb," Freddie murmured to her. "Of course you love her, she's your sister."

"I know that she understands that, somewhere deep down," Melanie sighed quietly. "I hope someday we'll go back to how it was when we were kids…but she's resisted everything I've ever tried."

"That's her loss," Freddie insisted, looking back up at the sky. "She'll come to her senses someday."

Melanie smiled and turned to look at Freddie. "You're a great listener, Freddie," she told him. "It's just another thing I like about you."

Freddie looked back at her with a smile as well, and found himself shocked at how exceptionally pretty Melanie was, even flushed and sunburned from running around the park….and how unacceptably close they were on the ground. In fact, it seemed like they were getting closer…dangerously close.

With a quick motion, Freddie grabbed his water pistol again and lightly squirted Melanie directly in the face. She gasped and he grinned sheepishly, getting up from the ground with a laugh and taking off through the park again. Melanie yelled after him and got up quickly as well, grabbing her pistol and chasing after him, smiling enthusiastically. The pair of them laughed like a pair of little kids as they enjoyed the summer day that would never end.

**Happy almost-summer, everybody! (I graduate from high school one month from today!)**


	6. Steely Silences

**I'm here with chapter six! Let us delve deeper into Melanie's character…**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own iCarly or any of its characters.**

It did end though. Despite their desires, the sun began to fall lower and lower on the horizon, and Melanie and Freddie realized how late it was getting. "Does your mom know where you went?" Freddie asked Melanie, sitting on the swing to his left, as they watched the orange sun sinking lower and lower.

"Have you met my mother?" Melanie retorted, amused. "Yeah, I left a note, but she won't care either way."

"I guess that's true," Freddie murmured, slowly rocking his swing back and forth. "We should probably head back to your house though. It's almost eight." The little blonde sighed, but followed Freddie as they both got up from their swings and left the park.

About halfway back to Melanie's house, Freddie came to the stunning realization that they were holding hands. _When did that happen? _his internal voice exclaimed. Melanie didn't seem to object to holding his hand, however. And, strangely enough…he didn't mind either. So he just left his fingers interlocked with hers and said nothing about it.

Standing outside the house about five minutes later, Freddie had the strange feeling that someone was watching him as he chatted with Melanie. He glanced over his shoulder and…there! The blinds on the upstairs window suddenly shifted. _Sam's room_, he realized. Within seconds, Sam was at the front door, looking extremely annoyed and very bothered by what she saw.

"Hey! Frednubs!" Freddie winced as Sam shouted at him from the front door. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Melanie looked shocked. "Sam! Language!" Sam just sarcastically grinned at her twin and then continued shooting daggers at Freddie.

"Benson!" Sam exclaimed again, looking like she meant business.

"Yeah?" Freddie answered back, slightly weaker than he intended to sound.

"Conference!" Sam ordered. Freddie, with an extremely apologetic look to Melanie, shuffled up to Sam.

"I'm sorry, Sam, did I do something _wrong_?" he asked, trying to stick up for himself, but not liking how extremely _venomous _Sam's expression was. "I told you I was going to be hanging out with Mel today, didn't I?"

"You didn't tell me that you would be _holding her hand _and all _that _junk when you came home!" Sam hissed. "Fredward, my sister deserves way better than you."

Freddie was taken aback. "Excuse me, Sam? First of all, I'm not even _dating _your sister, we were just holding hands. Second of all, _what_? She deserves _better than me_? How can you say something like that?" He shook his head. "I thought we were _friends, _Sam."

With her face pinched into what looked like an almost forced grimace, Sam scoffed. "Benson, we were. The moment you set your sights on my sister, things change. She's _not _for someone to just mess around with, got that?"

Freddie started to respond, but then realized that Melanie was walking up to them, looking hurt and angry. He quickly shut his mouth and settled instead for an intensely furious glare directed towards Sam.

"Samantha, who do you think you are?" Melanie snapped. Her angry voice was almost cute, but she was obviously pissed off. "Leave Freddie alone, okay?"

"Melanie, what the hell are _you _doing?" Sam questioned. "Freddie is so not the right guy for you!"

"Oh my God this is so awkward…" Freddie mumbled, running a hand through his hair, completely and totally frustrated. "Sam, I just told you that-."

"When has it ever been up to you to decide who I date, Sam?" Melanie shot at her sister. "I mean, not that Freddie and I are even dating, but still."

"That's right," Freddie jumped in. "We're not. We're just friends, Sam. So you can chill out."

"Besides…" Melanie added, her voice losing some of its anger. "It's not like you really care anyway."

Sam looked from Melanie to Freddie and back again. "You're…you're right. I don't." With that, Sam turned on the heel of her black Converse and marched back through the front door. As she was stomping down the front hall, Freddie heard her call back, "I made dinner, so whenever you _'friends' _are done, it's waiting for you Melanie!"

"She made dinner?" Freddie repeated, incredulous. "That requires effort, doesn't it?"

Melanie looked slightly nauseated at the whole situation. "Yeah well…I'm sorry about that."

"It's just Sam," Freddie reasoned. "Who knows why she does or says anything?" Melanie shrugged.

"I'll see you later, alright, Freddie?" Melanie suddenly said. She wrapped her arms around his neck in a quick hug before he could really object and smiled at him. "It was fun today. Let's hang out again soon." Freddie could only manage a nod before Melanie was through the front door of her house, waving as she shut it.

He stood there for a moment before turning and walking down the front path.

_Melanie_

After she had shut the door, Melanie turned and leaned up against it, staring at the ceiling in frustration. _How is it possible that Sam can embarrass me like that and not feel guilty?_ With a sigh, Melanie pushed herself back onto her feet and headed towards her bedroom.

"Mels." Melanie stopped and turned to see her sister standing in the doorway to the kitchen. She was holding an empty plate out to Melanie. With a smile, Melanie shook her head.

"I'm not really hungry right now, but thanks Sam," Melanie said cheerfully.

Sam didn't look convinced. "Oh really?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Did you eat lunch?"

"Of course," Melanie replied, a slight snap in her voice. "I had an apple and two chopped sticks of celery." She felt proud until she noticed Sam's face.

"The apple that I found half of in the garbage?" Sam asked her. Melanie looked down at her shoes and then back up. She'd made sure the apple was covered up. Sam had to have gone looking through the garbage.

"So I ate half the apple. Big deal. It was a big apple." _Large. 114 calories for the whole thing. Cut in half only 70. _

Sam didn't say anything. She just held out the plate again. When Melanie didn't move towards her, she finally broke the steely silence. "You aren't allowed to practice until you eat dinner," Sam told her. Melanie didn't move for a second. "Mels," Sam said, a little bit more firmly.

Melanie broke and took small steps all the way to Sam. She slowly accepted the plate from her twin's hands. Sam still didn't smile, even though she had won. She just stepped out of Melanie's way to let her into the kitchen.

"I'm fine, Sam," Melanie murmured to Sam as she shuffled past. "I'm not a child."

"I know," Sam answered. "But you need me."

**Thanks for reading! Let's leave some comments and see if we like the direction the story is heading? **


	7. Ballet PracticeAnd Maybe A Secret?

**So sorry about the long hiatus. I'm hoping to start updating this story regularly again, but as many of you know I've really gotten into Big Time Rush fanfic as well, and I've got another story in progress from that show (called Paralyzed—check it out!), so I'm making NO promises. **

**I would like to let you know I've always planned for this to be a very long story. Like 20+ chapters. And I do plan to finish it. So don't give up hope. Even if I leave this story for this long again (hopefully not!), I'll be back to finish it.**

**Enjoy chapter seven!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own iCarly or any of its characters.**

Melanie's eyes snapped open as soon as her alarm started going off. She was tired, but she reached over to shut up the incessant beeping and immediately stood. The room was dark, and through the window it looked like dawn was still a ways away. It was—the clock read 5:30 AM.

This was not exactly what summer had been in years previous, even for Melanie. During the school year she woke up at this time, but in the summer she slept until 7:30. But now…it was so important for her to not waste a minute of her days. Especially since she had frivolously decided to spend her whole afternoon with Freddie yesterday. She had endlessly chastised herself for that during her evening workout yesterday. She had to work hard, or she'd never get a company contract.

Melanie glanced at her twin's still-sleeping form in the bed across the room. The room was really Sam's—Melanie hardly lived here after all. Still, it was obvious which twin inhabited which parts of the room. Sam's section was messy, covered in clothes and food wrappers and root beer bottles. Melanie's, meanwhile, was very neat and tucked in, with no traces of any food except for the empty water bottle on her bedside table.

Tiptoeing across the room, Melanie opened a dresser drawer as quietly as she could. Only being home for a few days, she'd already grown accustomed to moving around in a home where the other residents slept until very late. She pulled out her black camisole leotard and a pair of pink tights. After quickly changing and throwing on a cross-over sweater to keep warm in the chilly air, Melanie slunk out of the room, her toe shoes in hand.

The basement was her sanctuary. When she was younger, her mother had put wooden floors in the whole basement, and she had gotten Melanie a small _barre_ for Christmas one year. The only mirror was a cheap full length one that Melanie had bought at WalMart.

She pressed play on her iPod speakers and simply closed her eyes for a moment to listen to the opening notes of the _barre _practice music that was first on the playlist. Then she slipped on her soft ballet slippers and set to _plies _and _tendus_.

llllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllll

Two hours later, seven-thirty AM, and Melanie was in full ballet mode. Her cross-over was tossed in a corner with her ballet slippers, and now it was just her, center of the floor, in her toe shoes. Her pretty bun, which she was such an expert at assembling after years of practice, was starting to fall from its bobby-pinned perfection. Her face was gleaming with tiny droplets of sweat and her feet were screaming with blisters that came from her hours of practice every day.

Dance was so beautiful, wasn't it?

After a quick glance at the digital clock on the shelf, Melanie hit the play button on her iPod again. The classical music began once more and she started from the corner of the room.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she rose _en pointe_ and tried to float her way out to the center of the room. And once there, a graceful _arabesque_, into a—

_No_. Melanie's eyes snapped open as she dropped her leg from the _arabesque_. That was where it was going wrong. She was thinking about it. That's what Madame Forester always said was wrong with her dancing. She got in her head and she would psych herself out.

_It has to be _perfect_,_ Melanie ordered herself. _So stop _thinking.

The music played on and Melanie smashed the pause button with perhaps more force than necessary. No one here understood the stress of what she was going through. Her senior year was critical to her entire future. Sure she had danced Clara in _The Nutcracker _the previous Christmas, and Tinkerbell in _Peter Pan_ the spring before that. That wouldn't really matter if she didn't get good roles her senior year. No company would hire her on. She'd never be a dancer. She had to get everything perfect. She had to be a perfect dancer.

_Perfect_. It was a nagging little voice that constantly whispered this in her ear. That voice forced her to turn towards the mirror.

Her leotard looked so snug against her frame. And her legs didn't appear as beautifully thin as they could be. Everything about her could always be improved. Why would any company hire her when there was someone younger, thinner, and more graceful waiting in the wings?

_Stop_, Melanie suddenly snapped at herself. She shut her eyes and turned away. _Don't do it anymore, Mels…you're better now._ With a sigh and a quick shake, Melanie restarted the music and restarted her routine.

llllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllll

Carly was impatiently waiting on Sam's doorstep. She knocked one more time and then just let herself in using the key in the flower pot by the door. Sam had told her about it a long time ago in case of emergency, but Carly tended to abuse that power. Like on days such as today.

"Sam!" Carly groaned, walking into her best friend's bedroom. Sam was still asleep! "C'mon! It's ten in the morning!" Sam just muttered unintelligibly and rolled into a tighter ball. "Sam, you said you'd be at my house at nine-thirty."

"Oops," Carly heard Sam's tired voice say. Rolling her eyes, Carly pulled the covers right off of the petite blonde, who shouted loudly. "Carly!"

"Come on!" Carly said again, throwing the blankets across the room. "We have to have iCarly rehearsal for the show tonight!"

"And we _have _to have rehearsal in the _morning_?" Sam asked grumpily, rubbing her eyes but seemingly getting up. "God, she finally let me sleep in and instead here you come, inviting yourself into my house…" Sam trailed off as she realized something. "Wait. Melanie let me sleep in?"

Carly realized something too. "Why didn't she answer the door when I was knocking?"

Sam swung her legs out of her bed and was out the door of the room before Carly even knew what hit her. "Sam?" She followed her best friend out through the living room, where she opened the door to the stairway to the basement.

"Melanie?" Sam called down it.

"Yeah?" came Melanie's sweet voice in response. Sam sighed and immediately went down the stairs, Carly following.

Melanie was there, dressed in her ballet clothes, minus pointe shoes, and was stretching. "I just finished," Melanie said as Sam opened her mouth to say something. "I had to make up for missing rehearsing yesterday, so I did an extra hour."

"Fine," Sam snapped. "Did you eat breakfast?"

Melanie just nodded towards a small table where there was a banana peel and an apple core. Sam didn't seem satisfied.

"I'm making bacon," she said, turning around to go upstairs.

"I don't eat bacon, Sam," Melanie reminded her, stretching forward, her legs out in the side splits and her stomach now resting on the ground.

"I know, I'm making the bacon for me. Oatmeal, right?"

"Cinnamon on the side," Melanie agreed, turning to a left split and bending over frontways. She looked up at Carly. "Hi Carly!"

"Hey, Melanie," Carly said nicely as she went to follow Sam.

"Wait." Carly turned around as Melanie sat up straight again, still in the splits. "Can I…ask you something?"

"Sure, what?"

Melanie hesitated for a minute. "Is Freddie…seeing anyone?"

Carly was surprised for a minute but then shook her head and shrugged. "Um, no, I don't think so." She folded her arms and smiled, interested. "Why, do you like him?" 

With a hesitant, fake-sounding laugh, Melanie shook her head. "Me? No, no way. I mean, of course he's cute, you know I think that much. I did go on that date with him last year. But like him? No, no way." Melanie bit her lip and reached backwards to grab her leg and pull it up in a stretch to make herself busy again.

"Uh huh," Carly hummed, sounding very skeptical in a pleased way. "Well, you know he's going to be hanging out with us today—you can join us."

"Sam doesn't like me hanging around you guys, remember?" Melanie reminded Carly, sounding only slightly bitter as she flipped herself around to stretch the other leg, and bent frontways again.

"Oh come on," Carly laughed, putting her hands on her hips. "You and Sam really need to try to get along. Don't you remember back in second grade and stuff when you two were best friends? We all hung out together." Carly smiled fondly. "I've always kind of missed that."

Melanie coughed nervously as she reached back and pulled her left leg up. "I do too. But…it's not really the same anymore, is it?"

She could hear Carly shuffle her feet. "Have you and Sam ever talked about it? Like really?" Carly finally asked. "Not that it's any of my business. She would never talk about it with me, but…you're the person who she really should talk about it with, aren't you?"

Melanie swung her legs out of the splits and sat instead criss-crossed, looking up at Carly. "No, Sam doesn't like to talk about it. And neither do I." She fiddled with her ballet skirt ribbons. "It just causes fights and I don't like to fight."

"But maybe—"

"Carly!" Melanie interjected, standing up and trying to smile peacefully at her sister's best friend—a girl who Melanie considered a close friend as well. "You know that I love you…but I don't think that you really understand this." Melanie shrugged sadly. "It's been so long…I don't think it would even matter if she and I tried to talk about it anymore. The time for that is long gone."

Carly nodded, smiling hesitantly at Melanie. "You're right. Sorry, it's none of my business."

Melanie smiled back, and linked arms with Carly. "Let's go upstairs. Sam's probably going to try and eat a whole package of bacon by herself." Giggling, the two girls left the basement and ran up the stairs.


	8. Texting

**Short little chapter. I love writing out the characters text messages and stuff—I even sometimes write out the things I think would be their statuses on facebook. Someday I hope to do a story told entirely through text message, facebook updates, and other forms of social media.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own iCarly or any of its characters.**

FROM: Freddie B.

TO: Melanie P.

Hey, so r we gonna hang 2day or wat? I'd lov :)

FROM: Melanie P.

TO: Freddie B.

Umm, I guess :) wat do u wanna do?

FROM: Freddie B.

TO: Melanie P.

Well it's kinda hot…we could go c a movie. stay in the air conditioning.

FROM: Melanie P.

TO: Freddie B.

A movie, huh? …like a date?

FROM: Freddie B.

TO: Melanie P.

No! No. I mean…unless u want it to b a date. then yes. definitely yes.

FROM: Melanie P.

TO: Freddie B.

Ha. u smooth talker, u. wat time?

FROM: Freddie B.

TO: Melanie P.

Well, iCarly meeting will be over in like twenty minutes. I can meet u then?

FROM: Melanie P.

TO: Freddie B.

Shouldn't u b paying attention in this meeting?

FROM: Freddie B.

TO: Melanie P.

Please. they prefer wen I shut up and let them handle the "creative" portions of the show.

FROM: Melanie P.

TO: Freddie B.

Ha. that does sound like Sam. Groovy Smoothie, twenty minutes?

FROM: Sam P.

TO: Freddie B.

YO! Nub! Who r u texting?

FROM: Freddie B.

TO: Sam P.

Sam? im in the same room as u…

FROM: Sam P.

TO: Freddie B.

Ya, well Carls told me I should mind my own business about who ur texting, but im not gonna. this way she doesn't no. Now who?

FROM: Freddie B.

TO: Sam P.

Well, not that it's any of ur business…but Melanie.

FROM: Sam P.

TO: Freddie B.

Hold up. my SISTER? AGAIN?

FROM: Freddie B.

TO: Sam P.

Ya. can u jst stay out of it? our friendship doesn't rly concern u

FROM: Sam P.

TO: Freddie B.

if it concerns Mels it concerns me Benson.

FROM: Freddie B.

TO: Sam P.

I have never seen u act this way, especially w/ Melanie. don't u 2 usually fight all the time?

FROM: Sam P.

TO: Freddie B.

You don't know anything about my sister, Benson. jst leave her alone. she doesn't need anyone messing w/ her head right now.

FROM: Freddie B.

TO: Sam P.

Im not messing w/ her head! God, this is coming from the girl who the other day couldn't stand being in the same room as her sister. now ur defending her?

FROM: Sam P.

TO: Freddie B.

of course im defending her, u ninny, she's my twin sister.

FROM: Freddie B.

TO: Sam P.

She doesnt have to clear her dates w/ u, sam.

FROM: Sam P.

TO: Freddie B.

this is ur last warning Freddie. back off of Melanie. or else.

FROM: Melanie P.

TO: Freddie B.

Hello? Freddie? Groovy Smoothie, then the movie?

FROM: Freddie B.

TO: Melanie P.

Hey! Sry. absolutely. c u there.


	9. BoyfriendGirlfriend

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own iCarly or any of its characters.**

_I wish I could tie you up in my shoes_

_Make you feel unpretty too_

_I was told I was beautiful_

_But what does that mean to you?_

The door to the Groovy Smoothie slammed shut. "Mel!" Melanie looked up from her pearpod to see Freddie smiling at her. She smiled back, pulling her buds out of her ears, hitting pause on the pearpod.

"Hey!" she grinned, standing up from the table, shoving her music player in her purse, not bothering to wind the earbuds around it. She shrugged. "Sorry, I'm lost in music. It happens."

"No worries," Freddie assured her, giving her that special little smile he always seemed to have. "So, we should head out to the theater pretty quick—I know that movie you mentioned wanting to see the other day has a 3:00 showing."

Melanie nodded, hoping her smile was perfectly genuine looking. "Great, let's go!" she said, and then, surprising herself as much as Freddie, took his hand and they walked out of the smoothie shop.

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Sam pounded the button on her pearphone screen furiously, ending the call as it went to voice mail again. "She's not answering," she grumbled. Carly glanced over at Sam curiously. She wasn't paying attention to _Girly Cow_, and was instead focused entirely on her phone.

"Who's not answering?" Carly asked.

"Melanie," Sam answered angrily, tapping out text message.

Carly immediately muted the television and turned to face her best friend. "What is up with you?" Carly asked finally. "You have been so strange about Melanie lately. I'm sorry, but you and Melanie usually don't get along and you know that, don't you? Why have you been so overprotective of her ever since Freddie and she started…well, doing that flirty-kind-of-dating thing they're doing?"

Sam just shook her head and pursed her lips as she held her phone up to her ear again to call again. "You wouldn't understand, Carls," she grumbled. She threw the phone on the couch. "Dammit her phone is off! I _swear _if she's with Frednubs, I don't know what the hell I'm going to do. I won't be responsible for my actions."

"Sam!" Carly exclaimed. "Please just explain to me what's so wrong with Freddie!"

"He doesn't know Melanie!" Sam shouted, standing up angrily and grabbing her phone from the couch. "And she won't let him in enough until it's too late!"

"What's that mean?" Carly asked, but Sam was already out the door. "Sam?"

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"Popcorn?" Freddie offered as he settled into the seat next to Melanie in the theatre. She gave him a tight-lipped smile and shook her head. He realized at the same moment that she responded that pocorn was probably one of her off-limits foods. "Oh, sorry, I forgot."

"It's fine," she dismissed with a wave of her hand and offered him a genuine smile, one that made his chest tighten and had him feeling short of breath.

"I can go get you something else," he offered vaguely, wondering what there possibly could be at a movie theatre concession stand that she would eat.

Again she shook her head. "No I'm fine," she insisted. "I ate before I came." She pointed at the screen, where one of those pre-movie fill-in-the-blank games had just popped up. "Will Smith," she answered it out loud, and took Freddie's hand, thus changing the subject.

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It was dark. Sam noticed that. The sun had gone down, and the light was off. But she didn't get up to turn it on. She stayed lounging on the couch, leaning against the arm, one leg bent at the knee and up, the other stretched out down the couch. She flipped the pages of the composition notebook absent-mindedly in her lap.

Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. It drove Sam crazy. It always had. She never waited for anyone. She'd made that a thing of hers. Everyone else should be waiting for her, not the other way around.

But now she had no choice.

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"You alright, Melanie?" Freddie asked as they walked up the Puckett's front walk. Melanie glanced up at him as he gave her hand, laced in his, a quick squeeze.

She smiled brightly at him. "I'm perfect, Freddie," she told him, stepping up onto the porch. She bit her lip nervously and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Freddie, I…"

"What?" Freddie prompted nervously.

"I really like you," she admitted, a blush coming over her face. "I was wondering…if you want to make this…this…thing…a real…thing?"

Freddie felt a smile slowly stretching across his face. "Melanie Puckett, are you asking me to be your boyfriend?" he teased.

Melanie blushed even more furiously and nodded looking toward the ground. Freddie placed a hand on her chin and gently guided her face back up to look at him. He just smiled and then brought her face closer to his. They kissed, sweetly and softly.

When they broke apart, Melanie smiled at him, and he nodded at her, smiling as well. "I'd be honored to be your boyfriend, Mels."

Melanie happily grinned at Freddie and leaned into him for a hug before a final kiss goodnight. Waving goodbye, she went inside the dark house.

Noticing that it was, in fact, very dark, Melanie flipped on the living room light, and stifled a scream as the light illuminated Sam lying on the couch. "Holy shit, Sam!" Melanie gasped, grabbing the armchair for support. "You scared me!"

"Sorry," Sam apologized, not sounding sorry. "Have you been with Freddie?"

Melanie felt her whole body go rigid. "Yes," she said simply. "And you have no say in anything, Sam. _Anything_. Do you understand?"

Sam didn't answer, but just glanced down at what she was holding. Melanie looked too and felt her heart drop. "Where did you get that?" Melanie murmured.

"I'm not _dumb, _Mels," Sam spat. "Your games might fool Mom but you can never get anything past me."

"This isn't your business, Sam," Melanie hissed, grabbing for the notebook and taking it from Sam. Sam just let it go, but kept her hard gaze on Melanie.

"Melanie," Sam said, her voice…soft…pleading? "Just talk to me. What's happening? Why is this happening?"

Melanie felt her chin quiver, and swallowed quickly, drawing herself into strength. "Leave me _alone, _Sam," she said simply, and stomped off down the hall to her room.

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Freddie was halfway down the street when he heard someone behind him. "Freddie!" He turned, and saw Sam running down the street after him. He tensed up, figuring she was there to punish him for taking her sister out after her express directions not to, but then noticed something was …different.

Sam was wearing cut-off PJ pants and no shoes. She looked upset. Not like Sam.

"Sam, what's wrong?" he asked quickly.

"I have to talk to you," she told him. "It's about Melanie."

"What about her?" he questioned. "Is she okay?"

Sam shook her head. "She's really not, Freddie," Sam murmured. "I just…I don't know if I should say this…"

"I'm her boyfriend," he told Sam. "If something's wrong with her, I have to know so I can help."

Sam looked up into Freddie's eyes. She looked so torn, but finally she nodded. "Freddie…my sister…she's…"

Taking a deep breath, Sam looked Freddie straight in the eye and tried again.

"Melanie's sick."


	10. Betrayal

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own iCarly or any of its characters**

**WARNING: May be triggering.**

"What do you mean?" Freddie asked, feeling worry creep into his heart. "She's sick? Should I call someone? An ambulance?"

Sam shook her head. "They can't help her," she told him, sounding so unlike herself, so desperate, so…unhappy. "They've tried before."

Freddie took Sam's shoulder and gave it a tiny little shake. "Will you please tell me what you mean?" he begged. "I'm so confused right now."

"Melanie's anorexic." Sam stared right at Freddie as she said this, watching the words hit him, watching him process them, watching him realize…

"She's…wait, what?" he asked, taking his hand off Sam's shoulder. "What do you mean?"

"Melanie has anorexia," Sam said again. "And bulimia."

"Eating disorders," Freddie said, and Sam nodded. "She…oh God…I…when?"

Sam gestured for Freddie to follow her, and they walked back to the Puckett house in silence.

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"She was first diagnosed when she was thirteen," Sam told him, taking the lid off of a box she'd pulled from the dark depths of a drawer. "When we hit puberty and she got boobs—she couldn't take it. You know, ballerinas are supposed to have flat chests…" Sam rummaged through the box and came up with a picture. "Here…this is a picture from that year."

Freddie took the picture hesitantly, and slowly looked down at it. Melanie—considerably younger, and unbelievably skinny. It was a picture from a dance performance, and you could practically count every single one of Mel's ribs. Freddie shook his head. "Mel's not this skinny."

"That's close to her lowest weight I think," Sam told him. "She weighed eighty-eight pounds."

"Eighty-eight…" Freddie repeated faintly. He looked up at Sam. "Well, but she's not that anymore. Did she get better?"

Sam sighed and sat on the couch next to Freddie. "So she was diagnosed at thirteen," she said again. "She'd already been starving herself for a year and a half or so. Over her winter break one year she went into rehab—she started eating again, she gained weight, and was back to school by the next term."

"That's good."

"Yeah, well, she was threatened with not being allowed to return," Sam told Freddie. "Ballet means…everything to her. And, you know like half of ballet dancers have eating disorders so the academy doctor definitely knows when someone has one. So she had to get better. Or else they would have taken her scholarship away." Sam fiddled with her hands. "A dancer who's fainting in the middle of class isn't one that can be relied on."

"Okay, so…she got better though?" Freddie clarified. "I mean…you said she went to rehab and got better? So what's wrong now?"

"She had a relapse when we were fifteen," Sam continued. "Only now she had developed bulimia too. See, people knew that she had an eating disorder, so they'd make time to eat _with _her. So…she'd eat and then she'd go and puke it all back up."

Freddie was completely silent, he was in such shock. "That's…I mean…that's horrible," he finally said.

"Yeah, no shit, Frednubs," Sam snapped. "She ended up in the hospital when she fainted from dehydration and low-blood sugar. She was committed to getting better though, it seemed. The doctors said she needed to stop dancing for a while, to get her strength and confidence back up. She took two weeks off and was back in school before you knew it. She's been healthy for two years. Following her diet plan, exercising an appropriate amount, keeping everything down…she was doing great."

"What's wrong, then?"

Sam bit her lip and folded her legs under her, Indian-style. "I started noticing that she was only eating half of her food. She was throwing most of it away, planting dishes in the sink, stuff like that. But, I thought she was fine because she has a food log that she keeps, right? Doctor's orders. Anyway…turns out she's been forging it."

"What do you mean?"

"The food log that she gives to her doctor is full of lies." Sam chewed the inside of her cheek angrily. "I found her real one. She's been decreasing calories. Over-exercising. She wants to lose 'just ten pounds' again."

Freddie didn't understand. "But…why? She's absolutely…I mean…she's perfect!"

"I know that, you idiot," Sam growled at him. "But she's got issues, and she can't understand when she's perfect." Sam grabbed a throw pillow and started picking at a loose thread on it. "Something must have happened that I don't know about. Something that triggered her to start dieting again."

"Is there anything I can do?" Freddie asked, desperately. "Sam, I know you think that I shouldn't date Melanie. And now I know why. You don't think I can handle her eating disorder, or that she can't handle the pressure of having a boyfriend. But you're wrong. I really, _really like _Melanie. And she likes me too. I want to help. I need to know how to."

Sam nodded slowly.

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Melanie paced her room, angry to the point of tears streaming down her cheeks. She turned and threw the notebook in her hand at the wall. She sank to the floor, hugging her bony knees to her chest.

_Why, why, why, why_, she silently cried, sniffling disgustingly. _Why is this happening to me?_ "I thought I was better," she whispered out loud. "Why am I not?"

_Late night. Rehearsal going late. Everyone was exhausted. The choreographer said to do it again. Melanie dancing her duet with Evan, this boy who she barely knew. They got to the _presage_. Simple. He would pick her up from her _arabesque_ position, she'd fold her bottom leg under, he'd lift her arm's length above his head._

_He shook with tiredness, he dropped her, she fell with a hard clatter on the ground. The other dancers gasped in shock, and ran out to make sure she was okay. Evan fell to the ground beside her, saying how sorry he was, he hadn't gotten a good grip, it was his fault. The choreographer was chastising Evan. Everyone was asking Melanie if she was all right. _

_She said she was. But she wasn't._

_Was she too heavy for him to lift?_

She felt bad. She knew Sam wanted to help. Sam was the only person that she wanted to help her—no more doctors, psychologists, none of that. She wanted _Sam. _But she was pushing Sam away. Melanie sniffled again and wiped her nose on her arm. A line of blood was left on her arm and Melanie's shoulders slumped.

"Great, my nose is bleeding," Melanie grumbled, teary. She grabbed a tissue from the bedside table and held it under her nose. She was used to nose bleeds.

After a few minutes, the bleeding stopped and Melanie tossed the bloody tissue in the trash. She took a deep breath and stood up. Just that slight change in altitude made her a little dizzy. Making her decision, she walked towards the door of her bedroom, turned the doorknob, and began to walk down the hallway.

Before she reached the stairs, she heard Sam talking. _Mom's not here…_ Melanie thought slowly. _Who is she…_ And then she heard it.

"…so is her anorexia stress-triggered or anything?" Melanie felt her heart practically pound out of her chest. That was Freddie. Freddie. He had said the word. The dirty, dirty word. Anorexia.

He knew.

Sam had told him.

Sam had betrayed her.

Melanie felt tears coming to her eyes again, and she raced down the stairs. "Sam!" she shouted. Both Freddie and Sam looked up. Freddie stood up halfway, looking like he would come to her. "Sam, how could you?"

"Mels, I had to, you can't keep secrets!" Sam pleaded, standing and facing her sister.

"You _betrayed _me!" Melanie exclaimed. "You promised you would never tell!"

"Melanie, I'm sorry," Sam attempted to apologize, but Melanie was having none of it.

"What if _I _told something about you? Something you made _me _promise to never tell? Hmm?" Melanie threatened. "How would that make _you _feel?"

"Melanie…" Sam said, taken aback.

Freddie reached a hand for Melanie. "Mels, please, I had to—"

"Sam auditioned for the same school I did," Melanie spat to Freddie. "She auditioned, but she _wasn't good enough_. They gave _me _a scholarship and offered to accept her on probation, but she couldn't. Because we couldn't afford it. They said she wasn't disciplined enough for them to give a scholarship too. They said she needed more training. And so she quit. She quit, she quit because she wasn't as good as me!"

Sam stood there, just staring at Melanie, her hurt expression so foreign on Sam's face it was heart-breaking. Melanie took a gasping breath as she realized what she had just said. "Sam, I…I…" Melanie looked from Sam to Freddie and slowly backed a few steps up. "I…" she tried once more. She turned and ran back up the stairs.

Freddie and Sam both heard the bedroom door slam.


End file.
